Chiara Solazzo

PhD student - DREST

Research theme

The view of the Shoah in light of the relations between the Holy See and Israel (1948-1958)

Education, academic and professional experience

From August 2 to September 21, 2023, she undertook a research period at The Vidal Sasson International Center for the Study of Antisemitism and at the Ulpan of The Rothberg International School, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

From February 21 to June 30, 2023, she completed a semester of Hebrew language study (Alef level) at Rothberg International School, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In November 2022, she began her PhD, funded by a PNRR fellowship, at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, in the curriculum of Judaism, with a research project entitled La visione della Shoah nel pontificato di Pio XII (1945–1958). The project examines whether, and to what extent, Pope Pius XII addressed the topic of the Shoah in his public magisterium from the postwar period until the end of his pontificate (1945–1958).

From February to October 2022, she collaborated with the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII on a project for the exhibition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the attack on the synagogue of Rome. Her work focused on archival research in the Archivio Centrale dello Stato di Roma, Archivio del Senato della Repubblica, Archivio del Ministero degli Affari Esteri, and Archivio della Presidenza della Repubblica. The collected material contributed to a videohistory exhibition entitled Attentato alla sinagoga di Roma, 9 Ottobre 1982, which was hosted from October 9 to November 11, 2022, at the Terme di Diocleziano, Rome.

In 2021, she earned her Master’s degree at the University of Bologna with a thesis in History of Christianity entitled Gnosticismo: storia del termine e del contesto, il contributo allo studio del fenomeno da Peterson, Bolgiani e Filoramo.
In the same year, she completed the PluRes Master in Religious Pluralism and Historical Knowledge.

In 2018, she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Modern Literature from the University of Salento, with a thesis in Medieval History entitled Giovanna D’Arco: una vita tra la storia ed il mito.

Conference, seminars and workshops

Dicember 1, 2024, Mondi Cristiani e Stato d’Israele, seminario tenuto da Paolo Zanini, Centro Studi Educativi Milano, Milano.

October 18, 2024, L’antisemitismo in Italia, Narrazioni e Cospirazioni. Ricerche storiche e riflessioni di metodo, workshop, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice.

June 10, 2024, Per una definizione dell’antisemitismo tra teoria e storia, participation at the PRIN 2022 Towards a History of italian antisemitism (1870-2022) Rethorics, narratives, conspirances methodological workshop , Università degli Studi di Bergamo, Bergamo. 

May 27, 2024, Introduzione all’ermeneutica ebraica: dal Midreash alla Qaballah e oltre, participation at the seminar, Fondazione per le scienze religiose, Bologna.

May 19 – 23, 2024, co-organization and participation in the INIRE Conference held in Palermo.

May 19 – 23, 2024, panel: Holocaust: A Real Turning Point in Jewish-Catholic Relations?VII International Congress of the European Academy of Religion, Palermo.

April 18 – 19, 2024, Vatican Diplomacy and the Shaping of the West During the Pontificate of Pio XII 1939-1948, seminar of the Pontificia università Gregoriana, Roma. 

April 6, 2024, Jewish. La rinnovata attenzione del mondo alla ricerca per la cultura e la storia ebraica in Italia, seminar at the Fondazione Centro Di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea C.D.E.C. Onlus, Milan.

December 14 – 15, 2023, Sacrifice and Sacred Violence: History, Comparisons, and Early Modern World, seminar at the Università Alma Mater Studiorum, Bologna.